Omegadimension Neptunia Oneshots
by megaswifter21
Summary: Collection of oneshots for Omegadimension Neptunia: The New Generation, taking place after its ending.
1. Introduction

A black screen.

Nothing appeared on it for a few minutes until the screen flared to life, a recording symbol at the top right. The Planeptune Basilicom in the background. Neptune slowly walked to the frame and crouched before tapping the lens a few times, "Hello~? Is this thing on? I really don't want to record this a third time..." She sighed.

"I believe it is on, Big Sis." Nepgear's voice was heard from outside the lens' view.

"Alright!" Neptune exclaimed cheerfully and smiled at the screen, "Hello there! Been a while, huh? I'm sure you missed me!" She slowly cleared her throat, "Anyway, the author put me up to this PSA or note or whatever you wanna call this to give to you. Nep Jr. if you could pass me the list please!"

"Umm." Papers shuffling could be heard from outside the screen before a paper appeared at the right corner of the screen, "Here you go, Neptune."

"Thank you~!" Neptune started to read, "The author would like to let you know the character belong to Idea Factory and Compile Heart. He takes no credit… Hey, this is the disclaimer, not the note!" Neptune exclaimed, "I mean, it is important - somewhat - but not what's needed!"

"Sorry, Neptune. It should be here..." Nepgear mumbled before another paper appeared on screen, "Here."

"Thank you." Neptune said before starting to read, "Let's skim this note and read the juicy stuff, shall we? So… hmmm..." Neptune licked her lips and mumbled to herself, "Yeah. Okay. So, the gist of the note is - this is a collection of oneshots which take place after the main story of Omegadimension. Each chapter has little relation to the next - apart from them happening chronologically... The chapters will also take longer to be posted… Nothing else of importance."

"Neptune. I think you should read the entire thing rather than summarize its contents." Nepgear suggested.

"Nah~! It's fine, Nep Jr. There's nothing else here that's important! It does mention some other juicy bits, but I'll be keeping those to myself." Neptune said with a mischievous smile.

"Neptune..." Nepgear's disappointed voice was heard.

"Hehe." Neptune laughed, "Anyway. I'll see you all… Whenever the first story is uploaded. See ya~!" Neptune waved at the camera for a few minutes before sighing, "Hopefully the first story is up soon. Can ya believe the author is as lazy as me? No one can be as lazy as me!" Neptune exclaimed angrily.

"Um, Neptune." Nepgear's voice was filled with worry, "The camera… it's not turning off."

"Uwa-?" Neptune looked at the camera with a startled and panicked look, "Ignore that part! I didn't say anyt-"

The screen went black. Slowly, white letters started to appear on the screen.

 **I'll see you all later.**


	2. Story 1: The Meeting of Eras

Neptune kept pacing back and forth in front of the purple portal inside her Basilicom as seven pairs of eyes looked at her. Each of the other CPUs, and her sister, watched her with worry. Thoughts of confusion swirled in everyone's minds as Neptune appeared to become more frustrated by the second.

"Why are they taking so long?" Neptune complained, "Gosh darnit."

"Neptune, who exactly are they and why have you been keeping us this long?" Noire asked, crossing her arms and looking at Neptune with a mildly irritated expression.

"Oh trust me, Noire~ I'm very sure you'll like who I'm introducing you to." Neptune said, her enthusiasm coming back to her.

Just as Neptune said the last few words, Big Neptune came out of the portal with a smile on her face, "Yahoo~! Hello everyone. We've arrived~."

Following Big Neptune out of the portal were four girls. Each dressed differently and of varying heights, but they all held the same curious and excited expression.

The first one to appear from the portal was a girl with an orange and white dress, as well as white gloves that reached up to her shoulder. She also had white tights and orange shoes. A single d-pad clip rested on her short orange hair. Her blue eyes twinkled with joy as she saw Neptune. Neptune recognised her as Jupiter, the CPU of Planeptune.

Next up, was a girl wearing a black business suit with a white shirt underneath and a blue tie. A blue pin with Lastation's logo on it pinned on her suit. She had a black skirt and knee-length black socks. Her black shoes had a small white circle on them and her hair was tied in a ponytail. She looked at Noire and Uni with her crimson eyes before smiling. Azure, Lastation's CPU.

Next up, was the smallest of the four girls. She was wearing an overcoat with two colours, her left side was blue while her right was red. White puffballs went down the middle of her overcoat. A similarly coloured hat rested on her brown hair, with a grey square split in half in the middle of the hat. She was wearing grey tights, and a blue and red boot. She held her arms close to her as she noticed Blanc and her sisters, her differently coloured eyes shone with enthusiasm and surprise. Marin, the CPU from Lowee.

And last but not least, came out the tallest of the four. She was wearing a sleeveless green dress that reached down to her knees. White gloves with golden embroidery decorated her hands. She had white boots that reached up to her knees with a slight high heel . Her blonde hair fell behind her back. Her gaze was fixed on Vert, her golden eyes not moving from her. The CPU of Leanbox - Jade.

"Neptune…? Who are these?" Vert was the first to speak up as she looked back at Jade with interest.

"I'll tell ya in a sec, Vert." Neptune said, "No Nep Jr. though?"

"I'm here, Neptune." Nepgear raised her hand enthusiastically.

Neptune turned to her with a smile, "Hehe. Guess it's confusing, it's the other Nepgear."

"Oh. That other Me." Nepgear said, "I wanted to meet her..."

"Another Nepgear?" Uni said, looking slightly flustered.

"Well, Small Me… Nepgear was running some errands for Histoire, so she'll be here later. I'll wait for her.~" Big Neptune said before jumping into the portal.

Neptune giggled before looking at the new CPUs, "Well, hello ladies. It's been a while, eh?"

"Yep.~" Jupiter replied with a smile, "We've been doing our best since you left."

"You'd be impressed about the amount of progress our nations have gone through." Azure said with a small smug smile.

Neptune nodded and smiled before turning to the other CPUs, "Well, I bet the suspense is killing you! So, here I present to you… Your successors!" Neptune extended her hands and gestured at the girls. Almost as if she expected flashing lights and explosions from her reveal - luckily, there were none.

The other CPUs took a step back. A confused expression in each of their faces - just like Neptune wanted. Apart from Nepgear, Neptune had not told any of them about her adventures in the other dimension.

Neptune smiled at Jupiter first, "Jupiter, could you wait with Nepgear please?" She said sweetly, pointing at Nepgear with her head.

Jupiter smiled and walked next to Nepgear. They smiled at each other before looking back at Neptune.

"Okay okay. Let's do this one by one." Neptune said before leading Azure towards Noire and Uni, "Noire, Uni. This here is Azure." She gestured at Azure, "I'm sure you'll have plenty to talk about, so please~ take your time."

"Azure huh?" Noire said, her hand on her hip, "You look so much like Kei."

Azure smiled kindly at Noire and Uni, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you both."

"Pleasure's mine." Noire said, "I never thought I'd see my own successor. So, tell me, what happened to the me in… well, your dimension?"

Azure laughed nervously, "I think we should talk about that… later."

"Is it that bad?" Uni asked, "Oh and… Pleased to meet you, Azure."

Neptune smiled as she saw the Lastation CPUs conversing. Satisfied with the result there, she walked towards Marin and led her towards Blanc and her sisters. As they approached them, Ram excitedly walked forwards while Rom hid behind Blanc, her eyes timidly looking at Marin.

"Now now, Rom." Blanc said, smiling reassuringly at her sister, "I'm sure she's nice."

Rom nodded timidly, "I… hope." She said.

"Who's she? Who's she?" Ram said, circling around Neptune, "My name's Ram, nice to meet you!"

"Enthusiastic, Ram?" Neptune said with a smile. She stopped in front of Blanc, with Marin at her side, "Blanc, Rom, Ram. This here is Marin."

"Hi..." Marin said shyly, "Nice… to meet you… Miss Blanc…. Miss Rom… Miss Ram..."

"Miss?" Ram said, "We look nearly the same age! Isn't that right, Rom?"

"Right, Ram~." Rom replied as she left Blanc's side and smiled at Marin.

Blanc looked at Marin with a soft smile, "So you're my successor, huh? Nice to meet you."

Marin giggled softly at Blanc's words. She was glad to see her predecessors.

"Hey, Blanc." Neptune said, "Marin is a fan of your books as well~."

"Wait. Huh?!" Blanc exclaimed, looking at Neptune with disbelief before looking at Marin, "You've… Read my books?"

"Mhm." Marin nodded with a smile, "I like… Them. But… There are some complex words…"

"You've read her books? Then you must've seen our drawings!" Ram exclaimed cheerfully.

"There… Were a few drawings…" Marin remembered.

"Would you like to draw with us, Marin? We got this paper~!" Ram said, taking out a book with a brown cover and smiling mischievously.

"T-that's-! You bastards!" Blanc fumed, her eyes obscured by a shadow and a single red eye present, "You were going to draw on my latest novel!"

"Uh oh." Ram said, "Rom! Let's run away!"

"Run away." Rom agreed.

"Let's go, Marin!" Ram said, taking Marin's hand and running away from Blanc.

"Come back here!" Blanc shouted as she ran behind her sisters and Marin. They ran out of the Basilicom and into some rooms near the back.

Neptune smirked and snorted. Just as planned~!

"Vert, right?" Neptune heard Jade say. She turned around and saw Jade talking with Vert.

"Quite right. And you are…?" Vert replied, looking at Jade from head to toe.

"Jade. Pleased to finally met you, Vert." Jade smiled, looking at Vert with admiring eyes.

"Hmm." Vert hummed as she stopped near Jade's chest. She rested her chin on her hand, "Are you sure you're from Leanbox?"

"H-huh?!" Jade said with a shocked face, "M-my chest has nothing to do with that! I'm quite apt as a CPU."

"Do you at least like BL manga? 4 Goddesses Online?" Vert questioned Jade.

"Umm… Well." Jade hesitated. She looked around herself, making sure no one was near as she whispered the answer, "Yes."

"Hmm." Vert said, looking Jade once again. She suddenly hugged her, "Oh my. You're like a little sister then!" She said happily, "We have to play 4 Goddesses Online together one day!"

Neptune simply stood back, looking at Jade uncomfortably smiling at Vert as she became excited at the notion of having Jade as a little sister.

"Oh goodness, I'm late." A voice said, stepping out from the portal. Neptune looked in her direction.

Stepping out from the portal, came a girl that looked like Nepgear, except she was wearing a different colour than Nepgear, and she was slightly taller. She wore two d-pad clips, one white and one black. Her hair was tied in a ponytail. She looked around the room shyly.

Neptune cheerfully jumped towards her, "Nepgear!" She said happily as she hugged her, "I'm glad you could come.~"

"I had to. I missed you Neptune." She said with a smile.

"And that's everyone.~" Big Neptune said as she stepped out of the portal, "I'll go grab some pudding. Tell me when they wish to return, small me!" She called out as she walked away.

"Okay big me!" Neptune called out.

"Another me?" Nepgear said as she approached Neptune and… Nepgear.

"Oooh~ This'll be confusing." Neptune turned to the other Nepgear, "Are you okay being Big Nepgear?"

"Big Nepgear…?" She muttered, "Yes. That's okay." Big Nepgear nodded.

"So ummm. Big Me?" Nepgear said, "Oh that felt weird." She muttered before finishing her question, "Neptune told me you created some… robots?"

"Heh well..." Big Nepgear said, scratching the back of her head nervously, "I did."

"Could you teach me?" Nepgear asked, her eyes twinkling with excitement, "I haven't been able to create AI as complex as the one Neptune told me you made, or robots like the ones you made. Please~?" She begged.

"Oh goodness..." Big Nepgear muttered, "I'll try my best." She gave Nepgear a smile.

"Yay.~" Nepgear said happily.

Neptune left the Nepgears to talk with each other and approached Jupiter, who was looking at her with a smile.

"Been a while, Neptune." Jupiter said.

"Too long, Jupiter." Neptune replied with a smile, "How have things been over there?"

"Well, they've been fine so far." Jupiter said, "We've started developing our nations and trading with each other, as well as collaboration between our nations. But… there's something that's been bothering me."

"Hm? What is it, Jupiter?" Neptune inquired.

"Well, I've been having these dreams recently..." Jupiter said, "They're… quite cryptic. I see a huge beast in this red land with a red sky… And a console I've never seen before. What do you think they mean?"

Neptune looked at her. She had a pretty good guess at what those dreams meant, but she didn't want to say anything in case she was wrong, "Well, Jupiter. I'm not really sure, but don't let them bother you."

"Okay, Neptune."

"Come back here, you littl-" Blanc's voice echoed through the Basilicom before she stopped. She looked in Big Nepgear's direction, "Nepgear…?"

"Two Nepgears!" Ram exclaimed, before glancing at Blanc and hoping she had calmed down. She quietly slipped the book inside her pocket, keeping it for later.

"Oh, hello everyone." Big Nepgear said before laughing nervously.

Soon, the CPUs had approached Big Nepgear. She looked at each of them, guilt welling up inside her.

"So, you're the Nepgear from that dimension..." Noire mused, "But then, what happened the rest of us?"

"That is indeed quite strange." Vert added.

"Well, I..." Big Nepgear started, a few tears forming in her eyes, "I… Killed you."

A silence fell over the Basilicom. No one dared to speak. Big Nepgear hung her head low. Ever since Neptune had told her she could come to her dimension, she had feared meeting the other CPUs. The guilt of what she had done hadn't left her yet and…

Rom and Ram approached Big Nepgear and gave her a hug. They smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Killed us, uh?" Blanc said, breaking the silence, "If you did that, Nepgear, I'm sure there must've been a reason."

"It's unlike you." Noire agreed, "So, it must've been important, whatever you did."

"It was… to defeat the Deity of Sin..." Big Nepgear admitted.

Vert nodded, "Dear Nepgear, don't beat yourself up. I'm sure it wasn't easy."

"It wasn't." Big Nepgear agreed, "And… I never got to say it before… so..."

"What is it, Nepgear?" Uni asked.

"I hope you forgive me." Big Nepgear said, "I know you're not the ones from my own dimension but…"

The CPUs looked at each other and nodded in agreement, "We forgive you, Nepgear." They said together.

"Thank you..." Big Nepgear said, "I'm glad I could hear those words..."

"Okay, okay everyone!" Neptune called out, "We have all the time in the world so, get to know your successors now." She turned to the New CPUs that were looking at them with a smile, "And you can finally spend time with your predecessors." She said with a smile.

"Sounds like a plan." Noire said, "I'm surprised that this came from Neptune."

"Neptune does come up with the weirdest of ideas." Blanc agreed, "But, I like the sound of it."

"Oh indeed!" Vert said cheerfully, "Come on, Jade! We have a lot of time to spend as sisters!" She said, approaching Jade and dragging her away.

"Hey! Vert!" She exclaimed as Vert dragged her out of the Planeptune Basilicom.

Everyone looked at the Leanbox CPUs leaving the Basilicom before laughing with each other. They eventually left as well, each of them going to their respective nations with their successor.

Nepgear looked at her bigger self with interest, "So… would you like me to show you around my lab?"

"I'd be happy if you did." Big Nepgear replied, and they disappeared into Nepgear's lab.

Jupiter smiled at Neptune, "Time to see your nation, eh?"

"Yep.~" Neptune replied, "C'mon, Jupiter. We have a lot to catch up on!"


	3. Story 2: Green and Teal

A noisy crowd gathered around the two combatants. A feeling of curiosity and surprise passed by each and every one in the crowd. The still vivacious green trees making for a perfect arena.

In the middle of the crowd, two figures stood looking at each other. Their weapons by their side.

"Is she crazy? Challenging Green Heart?" One in the crowd asked.

"That girl has real guts. Or is just an idiot."

The two combatants were Vert and Jade. Or as they were calling each other for the fight, Green Heart and Teal Heart.

"Green Heart is totally going to win. I bet three thousand credits on it!" Shouted another in the crowd.

"You sure you want to do this, Teal Heart? I will not be holding back." Green Heart warned as she twirled her lance

"This is something I always wanted to do. I'll show you my skills, Green Heart. Don't underestimate me." Teal Heart replied. She thrusted her halberd a few times.

"Well then. If you beat me, I'll give you a rare material I obtained in a limited time event." Green Heart laughed. She was sure she was going to win. There was no way for her to lose.

"Accepted. I'll in turn give you a special edition copy of Green Heart from my dimension." Similarly to Green Heart, Teal Heart was sure there was no way for her to lose.

"You sure are rising the stakes, Teal Heart." Green Heart laughed, "Very well. I accept your challenge."

The crowd went silent. They anxiously expected one of them to make the first move.

Ten seconds passed. Then twenty. And finally, when a minute had passed, both Green Heart and Teal Heart rushed at each other. Their weapons clashed and the crowd roared. Chants for Green Heart's success overpowered those cheering for Teal Heart.

Teal Heart parried strikes from Green Heart every time her lance drew close. And every time Teal Heart tried to sweep with her halberd, Green Heart's lance was there to meet it. The two of them seemed evenly matched, and the crowd quickly realised that. The chants died down, and a silence fell over the audience as they tried to predict who would fall first.

Teal Heart pushed Green Heart away by thrusting her halberd. As Green Heart recovered from the push, Teal Heart pointed her free hand at her and it flashed red. A small fireball erupted from her hand and flew towards Green Heart.

"E-Ember?" Someone in the crowd shouted in surprise, "This early in the match?"

The fireball flew through the air, Teal Heart smirked. She was sure to make the first hit in the fight now. Green Heart managed to look up as the fireball grew nearer and soon she was covered in the explosion.

"Gotcha." Shouted Teal Heart, she spun her halberd cockily.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure, Teal Heart." Green Heart's voice came from inside the smoke. It quickly faded and everyone gasped in surprise. Green Heart was covered in a yellow dome, "It is regrettable that you made me use Barrier this early, however."

"So you had Barrier eh?" Teal Heart chuckled.

"It's not all I have. Now then, shall we dance?" Green Heart smirked, and her body became covered in a blue light. She dashed towards Teal Heart, an afterimage trailing behind her.

Teal Heart barely had time to react, she thrusted her halberd in Green Heart's direction, only for her to dodge the attack skilfully while still moving towards Teal Heart. In a desperate attempt to push her back, Teal Heart spun with her halberd. But she failed to push Green Heart away, she simply kept advancing and struck Teal Heart on her arm.

"She hit her!" Shouted one in the crowd as Green Heart stopped past Teal Heart.

"Wait. Look!" Another shouted, pointing at Green Heart who had collapsed to one knee.

"Sneaky… Using an attack to cancel your previous one…" Green Heart said as she stood up. She checked herself, a nasty mark on her stomach, "Dealing so much damage… Heh."

"Your attack barely grazed me, Green." Teal Heart smirked, "Landing that hit was-" Teal Heart clutched her injured arm, "What…?"

Green Heart laughed, "Bleed damage. I don't deal head on damage. I'll wear you down with my DoT!"

"Crafty, Green." Teal Heart remarked, "This'll get interesting now."

"Come on Teal, talking will only aid me!" Green Heart laughed.

"You're right." Teal Heart smiled and rushed at Green Heart. They both struck the other's weapon. Teal Heart kept moving in and out, attempting to strike Green Heart whenever she saw the opportunity.

Green Heart was struggling to keep up with Teal Heart's strategy. The damage she sustained before was too big for her to heal quickly - plus the duel's rules prevented her from using her healing items. She simply had to bear it and wait for her chance.

"You've used up both your specials, Green." Teal Heart laughed, "That means I don't have to worry about surprises."

Green Heart smirked. This unsettled Teal Heart. As she went to attack Green Heart once more, she hesitated. There was no way that Green Heart had any more tricks up her sleeve, but the smirk unsettled her. She thought that Green Heart could have one more trick, and hesitated. This hesitation costed her dearly.

Green Heart took the hesitation as a chance to attack. Teal Heart was unprepared for it. Her lance started to shine a bright red and she lunged at Teal Heart. The attack connected just like Green Heart wanted, and Teal Heart fell to her knees, more bleeding wounds, but also a burnt mark on her arm.

"Dammit Green Heart!" Teal Heart shouted, her health was dropping rapidly. She wouldn't be able to sustain much more of Green Heart's damage over time. And Green Heart knew that. If she could only extend the duration for a few seconds, her victory was guaranteed.

Teal Heart knew what she had to do. She spun her halberd a few times, the grey metal turning a grim shade of red. She ran at Green Heart and thrusted her halberd towards her. She barely had time to parry the attack, forcing her to partly block the hit, and take a large amount of damage.

They were both running low on health, and the crowd noticed them both looking tired because of it. They had fallen silent by now, the match was becoming more even than they had ever thought it would be, especially someone challenging Green Heart. There was some clear admiration of Teal Heart coming from the crowd.

"We're almost at our limit, Green." Teal Heart laughed.

"The duel doesn't end till one of us falls. And using your two specials already means you're out of tricks." Green Heart smiled, "So, let's settle this quickly shall we?"

Teal Heart nodded. She paced back and forth in front of Green Heart, trying to wait out the status effects she had on her. Green Heart of course noticed this and rushed at her. The two began to fight again, knowing that one hit was all that was require for them to win… or lose.

They perfectly blocked each other's attacks, and put up quite a fight against the other, no attack managing to hit just as they wanted.

This battle remained the same for a couple of minutes, neither side clearly gaining an advantage over the other. The crowd was expectantly waiting for the final hit to be delivered. The tension rose with every single strike, the stakes were high for both combatants, and neither desired to lose to the other. Teal Heart wanted to prove that she was just as good as Green Heart after all.

Green Heart jumped back. She moved her lance back and then forwards, a blue light at it's tip. Pillars of ice rose towards Teal Heart, who jumped to the side to avoid them. Green Heart was there to met her with her lance. Teal Heart smiled at Green Heart's attack. She prepared herself to attack, knowing that this attack would help her win… but she missed, Green Heart ducked under her stab and slashed upwards, managing to hit her one last time.

"The battle's decided." Green Heart smiled as Teal Heart fell to one knee. Green Heart walked away from Teal Heart, "No matter what we do, my DoT will defeat you." She said.

Teal Heart chuckled. Green Heart was right of course, she would lose in a few seconds by now, but it didn't mean she couldn't give it one last attempt. The crowd was already cheering for Green Heart, and she was waving at them.

"Duel's not over yet..." Teal Heart grunted as she stood up. The determination not to lose fueled her, trying with all her heart not to lose to her predecessor. Her halberd started shining the same crimson. She lunged at Green Heart's back. The crowd attempted to warn her, but she reacted too late.

Teal Heart's halberd managed to connect with Green Heart just at the last second. They both watched their health drop down to zero, and collapsed at the same time. The word " _DRAW"_ promptly displayed in both player's screen.

"Ah dammit." Jade exclaimed, pushing her chair back from the desk. She spun around to look at Vert, "I was sure I could've won."

"So was I." Vert sighed, "But well, a draw is a draw." She smiled at Jade.

"I guess so." Jade chuckled, "Honestly, I never expected you to be a damage over time player."

"And I never expected you to be a berserker." Vert replied with a smile.

"Oh berserker's the best, Vert." Jade smiled cockily, "Once, my guild and I managed to one shot the Hydra raid boss by simply buffing me up."

"Oh? That is quite interesting." Vert nodded, "What about the Nightmare Flame? Did you manage to one shot that one as well?" She smiled, already knowing the answer.

"Sadly, no. We were wiped out when it had a sliver of health left." Jade sighed sadly, "It just has too much defence."

"It is one of the few tank raid bosses. However, they are quite susceptible to damage over time. Inflicting bleed, burn, frost and poison at the same time… It drains any opponent's health in an instant, or quite rapidly at least." Vert smiled, "Once you learn the game, you'll find small strategies like those worth using."

Jade nodded, "You'll see, Vert. I'll become even better at '4 Goddesses Online' and I'll beat you in a duel one day."

Vert laughed and smiled, "I look forwards to that day, little sister."

Jade froze. Of course, she knew that Vert had always longed for a younger sister - being the only CPU without a CPU Candidate after all - but she never imagined that she would be taken as Vert's sister. All she could do was smile and accept her fate.

"Oh and… Jade?" Vert turned to face her quite seriously, "The other Nepgear back then, she mentioned that… the others and I died, did she not?"

Jade nodded, "Yeah. This is my first time seeing you in person. I always looked forward to a day like this."

Vert smiled warmly, "So, could I ask. What's my legacy? How is Leanbox under your rule? And… Chika, too."

"Your legacy… Well, everyone in Leanbox misses you. They look up to me to fill in your shoes, if you will. They all expect me to be as good a CPU as you, but I'm not sure if I will be able to." She scratched the back of her head, "Well, at least everyone is loving 'Vert's Games and Manga' store that I built in your honour."

"I see. Well, Jade, if you ask me - I would suggest not trying to be like me. Be yourself. The people of Leanbox are quick to adapt, and I'm sure they will be sure to come to love you… despite some of your shortcomings." Vert was looking at Jade's chest.

Jade was about to retort that her chest had nothing to do with it, but she let it slide. She smiled at Vert, "Thank you, Vert."

Vert smiled, "I'm glad I can be of some help to my younger sister." She gave her a satisfied nod before moving on, "So, the last topic. How is Chika? I can't imagine she did well after losing… well, 'me'"

"Well, Chika was..." Jade hesitated. Her relationship with Chika had been quite strained. She always expected her to be more like Vert. Vert this and Vert that she used to say. Sure, she did miss her dearly. She had been her only friend for a few years. But she hadn't heard of her ever since she left, "Chika was devastated when I met her. I assume I was the proof she needed to remember that her Vert was really dead." Jade sighed, "Chika, well. A year before Neptune arrived, she left Leanbox. She went out with on a journey around the world, along with the other oracles. She hasn't returned yet."

Vert nodded, "Sounds just like Chika. I haven't seen mine in years, but she does send me a few packages from time to time." Vert stood up from her chair. She placed a hand on Jade's back, "Stand up, Jade. let's go do something else. We can decide what the outcome of the duel is after."

Jade nodded and stood up. She gave Vert a smile and walked out of the room with her.

They then spent the rest of the day reading BL manga until Neptune came around to get Jade. The two Leanbox CPUs said their goodbyes and promised to meet again another day.

* * *

A dark fog surrounded Jade. She couldn't see much further than a few feet in front of her, yet she could still see a figure move behind the fog.

She looked next to her, and saw Jupiter and Blue Marin. In front of her, she noticed four figures she could not recognise, as their faces were obscured by the dark fog. Next to the figures, she recognised Nepgear, IF and Compa. A fifth unknown figure was on her knees. Her body completely obscured.

Her vision suddenly shifted. She was standing at the border of a cliff. A huge orange crystal floated in front of her. She blinked a few times, not believing her eyes. She tried to look down the cliff, but she felt herself be pushed down. She screamed.

And screamed. The feeling was too much for her. She tried transforming, but she couldn't. All she could do was flail her arms and scream.

In the distance, she could hear laughter. Deep, icy cold laughter. Her vision went dark, but the fall did not stop. She looked up, and saw a thin purple smile.

" _ **Soon."**_ It said ominously before vanishing.

* * *

Jade jumped from bed. Her forehead filled with sweat. The sensation she felt in her dream still followed her. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down, "Only a dream… It was only a dream..." She told herself. She looked at her hand - it was shaking.

She looked around her dark room, trying to calm down. She held her quivering hand tightly. She let her head drop on her pillow and sighed.

"It was just a dream."


	4. Story 3: White and Grey

The doors to the Lowee Basilicom were practically thrown open. Ram was the first one to walk inside, with Marin being basically dragged along by her hand. Blanc and Rom walked after them, Blanc sighing as she watched Ram give Marin a tour of the Basilicom.

Marin simply nodded along to the tour, although she already knew most of it - it was still interesting for her to notice differences with her own Basilicom. Ram seemed very enthusiastic about the tour until the very end, moving from place to place very quickly and giving Marin little time to respond or process her words.

"Now that the tour is done, come play with me and Rom~!" She smiled, looking proud of herself.

"Now now, Ram." Blanc walked towards her sister and intervened before she could run away with her successor, "Let me speak with Marin first."

"Awwwww… But we wanna play! Right Rom?" She turned to look at her twin.

"R-Right, Ram." Rom nodded in agreement with a smile.

Blanc sighed and smiled at her sisters, "It'll be just a moment. We can play all together once Marin and I discuss a few things. She can't be in two places at the same time after all."

"Ummm… M-Miss Blanc?" Marin raised her hand, "I-I can… do both." Blanc turned to look at her as her body shone brightly. After a few seconds, two Marins stood next to each other and the light faded. The one on the right had a red motif while the one on the left had a blue motif but otherwise looked identical.

The blue Marin smiled at the twins though she still seemed timid, while the red Marin nodded confidently at Blanc with a smile.

"Wooow~" Ram walked around both Marins, looking at them curiously, "How you do that? It's soooo cool!" She looked at the blue Marin for answers.

"O-Oh Um..." She shied away slightly, moving nervously in place and closer to her other half for the answers.

"It's something we can do." The red Marin replied, "We've been able to do it as long as we can remember, right Left?"

"R-Right… Umm, Right." The other Marin replied with a nod. She smiled at Ram, "S-Sorry, I-I'm not that good… t-talking with others..."

"That's why you'll be playing with Rom and Ram while I talk with Miss Blanc, Left." The red Marin replied with a smile, "Now go on. Have fun you three."

"J-Just like Blanc..." Rom muttered. She smiled as Ram led the Blue Marin by her hand towards a couch and TV in the corner. They all sat down and picked up a controller. The words 'Mayro Racing Deluxe' appeared on the screen. Red Marin smiled and turned to Blanc.

"Right? Left?" Blanc approached her and looked at her curiously, "That's what you call each other?"

She nodded, "Miss Mina told us to find a way to call each other while we were separated. It was difficult to call each other 'Marin'... Though 'Blue' and 'Red' came close."

Blanc nodded silently and placed a hand on her chin ad she looked at her. Her eyebrows furrowed, "How does it work? Are you two independent of each other?"

"It's confusing even for us, really..." Marin scratched the back of her head, "Miss Mina tried to explain as us being two separate CPUs that share a body… As for being independent. Yeah. Though we prefer to stay together."

Blanc nodded and smiled slightly, "Well, if there's two of you I can't imagine running Lowee would be very difficult."

Marin shook her head, "We don't… really do much. Financier does most of the work. We just go out and help people. Everyone in Lowee loves us~"

"So you're just figureheads..." Blanc looked at Marin up and down and nodded knowingly, "It'd be like letting Rom and Ram lead Lowee… Anyway. So you just help citizens with quests then? That's how you keep your shares?"

Marin nodded quite happily, "Not only that, we also play with children and the like. We sometimes sign some papers Financier gives us, but not much. Since she knows we interact with the citizens quite a bit, she assumes we know what they want."

Blanc smiled. She gave Marin an approving nod, "It's always good to know what your people want."

Marin nodded. She gave Blanc a pretty warm smile, "Of course." She looked slightly nervous as she said the next few words, "We've… Recently started taking in suggestions from the public, like including that one character everyone said was too big into Ultra Bash Friends."

"Oh you included him?" Blanc put her hand on her chin, and examined Marin, "I was considering asking the game director, but I wasn't sure it'd be a good idea." Blanc sounded absolutely unsure of the idea, and a slight bit against it. She looked at Marin with some slight scepticism.

Marin replied to Blanc's scepticism with a big smile and a nod, "Everyone loved him. Neptube was filled with excited reactions when we announced him." She smiled and laughed, remembering the videos she had seen about it.

Blanc remained silent as she considered her successor's words,"... I'll have to consider it. I trust your word; my successor should be just as smart as me any ways."

She nodded enthusiastically. Her face showing a large happy smile as she heard Blanc praise her. This made Marin want to talk about the recent agreements between Leanbox and Lowee too, but Ram's cry pulled them away from the conversation, "Awwww! No fair! I was winning until that blue shell!"

Both Blanc and Marin turned to look at them. Blue Marin and Rom were giggling a bit at Ram's frustrated and annoyed face. She held her control with one hand and sticked her tongue out to the screen. The two Lowee CPUs approached them and looked at the screen, they saw Marin's name at the top of the race scores with 30 points, with Rom and Ram tied second with 22 points. Red Marin gave her other self an encouraging pat on the shoulder while Blanc did the same to Ram.

"Ram. You can do it." She said with a small smile.

"Left. You're on the lead. Show them how good we are at this game."

Rom giggled at the coaching being made by both parties. Ram was nodding determinedly at Blanc's advice while both Marins looked at the screen with the same passion. Rom pressed the continue option and selected Prism Road - widely regarded by the community as the hardest course - for a laugh while the other two were busy discussing.

And a laugh was exactly what Rom got. She watched the other two scramble to get ready and fail the early start boost. The rest of the race ended up with Marin and Ram failing at nearby every turn in the road while Rom did a perfect run, holding the lead the entire time and leaving the other racers to bite her dust.

Rom smiled proudly at herself as the results screen showed up and saw herself at the top, with Marin and Ram falling down a few places and ending up in fifth and sixth place. This proved valuable to Rom, as no matter what happened next race, as long as she got higher than third, she was sure she'd win.

And win she did. Ram and Marin coming close, but ultimately being unable to beat the blue CPU Candidate. This managed to make Blanc and the other Marin join in on their game, determined to beat Rom in the next race.

And they tried. And tried, even joining together between them all to just beat Rom, but they were unable to and ended up playing the day away, with a book being thrown at Neptune by Blanc and Red Marin as she came to pick them up. Neptune exclaimed as she got hit and allowed them to finish the race - which Rom also won in the end.

Marin said her goodbye, promising to return another day before leaving with Neptune.

* * *

Marin was covered by fog. She could barely see in front of her. Only the blue glow of the strange floor was visible to her, as well as… Herself? Her Blue half was standing next to her, and they were both transformed. She looked closely at her other half before faintly hearing another voice she did not recognise, followed by Jupiter's… And then a roar. She was pushed to the side by her blue half as a dark hole appeared beneath her and disappeared, "Left!" She managed to scream before her vision faded to black.

Once her vision returned, she was lying down on a bed in an unfamiliar room. She tried to move, but found herself unable to. She faintly say some movement to her side, followed by a voice, "Hey don't move! You took a pretty nasty hit back there, so rest okay?"

Marin groaned and tried to turn her head to look at the woman that was speaking to her, but she was unable to. Instead, she faintly croaked a word, "Who…?"

"Oh right. Haven't introduced myself. My name's-"

Before the woman could even respond, her vision cut to black and she jolted awake. She was breathing heavily and… Her other half was next to her. They looked at each other in confusion. They had never woken up separated… And they both appeared to have had the same dream. They sighed together and fused back before attempting to sleep once again, believing it was just but a simple dream.


	5. Story 4: Black and Blue

_Bang_

The sound of gunshot echoed through the meadow, followed by a shout from nearby, "Keep your gun steady!"

"Got it." Another voice replied, followed by another gunshot.

"Like that!" Uni shouted, "Now, hit the next one!" She told Azure. She observed her from a few steps away, looking at how she held her guns.

Azure slowly held her guns steadily, aiming towards the targets in the distance. She lined up her gun with the target before pressing the trigger and…

 _Bang_

The gunshot echoed again. The target directly in front fell, a hole through the middle.

Azure spun her guns before placing them in her holsters. She smiled at Uni, "How was that?"

"Pretty good, actually." Uni replied with a similar smile, "Although, you should try to hold them further from your face."

Azure held her guns out, she moved them away, acting as if she was going to fire. She seemed contented with the distance and smiled, "Thank you, Uni."

"Heh, it's no problem. Especially to a gun enthusiast like yourself." Uni held a grateful smile, "Oh right! As a special treat, let me teach you an useful skill."

"Skill? Sounds interesting." Azure smiled at the proposition. She had asked Uni for some gun helped after all, and the Candidate seemed more than eager to teach her.

Uni summoned her weapon - a small rifle. She examined it before walking next to Azure. She held her rifle and pointed it at a tree in the distance, "Okay Azure. Here's what you do." Uni took a deep breath, "You focus your energy in creating a small field in front of your weapon's barrel." As Uni said those words, a small grey circle appeared in front of her rifle, "The more focused you are, the stronger the blast will become. Like…" Uni pressed the trigger, "So!" The loud bang of the rifle was quickly replaced with a small roar as Uni's rifle shot a continuous beam, which cut through the tree seamlessly. The tree fell down with a satisfying thud.

Once the beam died down, Azure looked at Uni in awe, "Outstanding. Such power…"

"Heh~." Uni pointed her rifle to the sky and winked at Azure, "You look amazed, Azure." She said with a satisfied smirk. Her attempt at impressing Azure had worked.

"Well… I never thought a simple gun was capable of such power." Azure looked down at her own guns.

"You try it." Uni pointed at Azure, her rifle turning into blue data.

"Okay… Let's see." Azure pointed her guns at the already fallen tree. She closed her eyes, focusing on creating the small share field that Uni had shown her.

It took her a few minutes, but eventually the field appeared in front of her guns, "You're doing it! Keep it up, Azure." Uni encouraged.

"I can totally do this." Azure felt the energy growing stronger. She opened her eyes, looking at the circle spinning in front of her guns with a soft blue light. Just as she was about to fire, a loud roar broke her concentration and the field faded.

Uni and Azure both turned in the direction of the roar. Uni's eyes widened, "A Zero dimension monster? I thought we destroyed them all!"

The beast was not something Azure had seen before. It had a sac-like lower body with what appeared to be a spine around it. Two crimson tentacle-like appendages at each side of the sac. Its upper body was a pitch black mess. A muscular body with a deformed face. Three clawed hands attached to huge muscles, pulsating with power. Spikes traveled down the beast's back from its shoulders. It let out a disgruntled roar as it saw Uni and Azure.

"Zero dimension monster?" Azure looked at Uni, who had activated her HDD and held a massive gun by her side.

"Yes. They're beasts from a dimension that should've disappeared a while ago. Some made it to our dimension, but I thought we had destroyed them all!" Uni pointed her gun at the beast.

"I understand. If that's the case, we can't let it roam free. Let's destroy this beast, Uni." Azure pointed her guns and readied herself. She nodded at Uni.

The beast fired a laser from its eyes at Uni and Azure, who dodged in opposite sides to avoid it.

Uni took high into the air, while Azure ran around the beast, firing round after round of bullets at the malformed beast. Uni firing laser blasts at the beast, slightly overwhelming it. Every time the beast tried to attack, whether it be with fire blasts or lasers, they dodged them effortlessly. While the beast seemed strong, it was all but that. It followed Azure's every movement for a while, until Uni shot it in the back and it turned to look at her, firing a laser beam which she dodged with grace.

"Gotcha!" Azure shouted as she took the opportunity to get behind it, she pointed both her guns at the back of the beast and concentrated for a short second. She applied the technique Uni had just taught her into her blast, " **Laser bullet!** " She shouted as multiple bullets were unloaded into the beast, each with a different colour laser trailing behind it. The beast roared, the laser burning into it's thick skin.

"Good one!" Uni shouted from above, "Let me join ya!" The beast roared and turned to face Azure, but before it could even do anything, a giant laser beam came from above and engulfed the beast completely. It growled in agony as it slowly disintegrated into a purple mist, which dissipated as fast as it appeared.

Once the beam died down, Uni descended on the burnt area and smiled at Azure, "You did it. Good one."

Azure smiled slightly back, "It was an honour fighting beside you, Uni. As short as it was."

Uni laughed and her transformation faded, "No no. My pleasure to help my successor. Now, you want to learn more about guns? There's this shop near the Basilicom that I could take you and-"

"I see you defeated it." Noire's voice came from above. She looked down at Uni and Azure, "I had received a report that the beast was here, but I see there was no reason for me to worry."

"Noire!" Uni waved, "Yep! It was easy with Azure's help."

"Oh Uni. You did more than me." Azure chuckled.

"So you do have some combat prowess huh?" Noire smiled, "But that's not all it takes to be a CPU. Uni," She turned to her sister, "mind heading back to the Basilicom? Paperwork is stacking up."

"Ah fine. We can check the gun shop later, Azure." Uni turned to her.

"No worries, Uni. Paperwork is more important. Let's head back."

"Spoken like a true CPU." Noire nodded and flew back towards Lastation.

Uni sighed and turned to Azure, "Right. I'll walk back with you." She said as she started to walk back, with Azure accompanying her. It wasn't a long walk, but they also didn't talk much. Azure was deep in thought, after all. She was thinking about how Noire ran Lastation, and if she could learn anything from her. Her interest grew and grew as they neared the Lastation Basilicom, she could just barely hold on to her enthusiasm and excitement.

Noire was sitting on her desk when they arrived. She was signing some papers, and checking her computer screen every so often. He gave Uni and Azure a wave as they approached, "Uni, take the stack right here." She moved a small stack of papers to the front of her desk, "That'll be for you today. Azure, I'd like you to gain some experience on how we do it, so could you come over here for a few and look? Thanks."

Uni gave Azure a pat on the back, "Good luck~" She smiled and picked up the stack of papers, taking it to a room on the left. Azure looked at Noire before joining her.

Noire worked like nothing Azure had ever seen. She was reading each paper with an outstanding speed, signing those she liked and moving away the others. Every third paper or so, she looked at her computer screen and moved through two or three different tabs, Azure recognised those as the guild's quests, a messaging service and the Gamindustri News website. Every single thing Noire did, she explained to Azure with a lot of detail.

"Multitasking is an important skill. The better you get at it, the more work you can get done in less time." She said, signing another paper.

"Kei told me. She always praised your skills while teaching me how to work." Azure said, trying to read some of the paperwork, "She said your work was the best."

"Of course it is. I _am_ Lastation's CPU after all." Noire boasted, "Azure, could I ask you to handle some of these papers too? I want to see how you handle this."

"Sure thing." Azure nodded and picked up the paper Noire gave her. She read through it and carefully analyzed it. It managed to pique her interest, "Hey Noire. What's this about VR technology?"

"Oh that. We've been trying to introduce some VR ideas to our current console, without that much success." Noire admitted, then raised a finger, "However! We will be able to. Lastation's technology is the best in Gamindustri after all."

"Right." Azure looked for a blank paper and a pen. She started to draw some sort of visor, as well as some handles, "Well, in my Lastation, we've already done that. This is the basic design of it" She showed the visor and controllers to Noire, "It's been a success so far. I can try and bring one here."

"Interesting..." Noire nodded and looked over the design, "Yeah. This could work… I'll have to ask our R&D team to test it."

"Glad to help." She placed the paperwork down and picked another up as Noire looked at the design. She read over it, then discussed it with Noire. She gave her some pretty good ideas. She was fascinated that her successor was this apt, and decided to give her some tips and advice on running Lastation. Of course, Uni eventually came back with her stack of paper finished and looked at the two socialising Lastation CPUs. She chuckled and went back to her room.

Noire and Azure discussed a lot. A serious amount of their talk was dedicated to work, with some fighting and combat advice from Noire. Before they even knew it, the sun was setting and Neptune arrived to take Azure back home. She, of course, sneaked in some jokes about Noire not being lonely anymore, much to the CPU's dismay.

"I'll come visit another day, and we can talk on how to make our Lastations better." Azure said.

"You're welcome any time." Noire smiled and waved. They all said their goodbyes, promising to meet again.

* * *

Azure was working. She was using every tip and trick that Noire had taught her while she worked. Even her multitasking skills had improved by now! She finished every paper left and right, with no trouble at all.

It was then that she looked at the Gamindustri news website. A breaking news alert had popped up, talking about strange red clouds appearing in the mountain between Lastation and Planeptune. It was then that, very suddenly, an earthquake started to shake the ground. Azure held tightly to her desk until the shaking had stopped.

"What was…?" She started to ask, when the sky behind her darkened. She turned and didn't quite believe her eyes. Beyond the window, crimson clouds circled overhead. She looked closely, and saw a shape that she had only seen once before. It was… rising from the mountains. And it roared a piercing screech… Only to be cut out as darkness covered Azure's vision.

Once it was back, she saw a destroyed road. It looked like one of Planeptune's roads. She swore that she had been there before, when visiting Jupiter once. Yet, it was now completely deserted and destroyed. Groaning surrounded her, and when she turned to look, she saw the other CPUs, IF, Compa, and six unknown figures - obscured by a dark mist - lying on the floor.

" _ **My revenge will be fulfilled!**_ " A loud voice resonated throughout the street. She tried to locate the source of the voice, but instead was met with a giant orange fist coming towards her.

* * *

Azure woke with a start. Sweating and breathing heavily. She held her right hand close to her heart as she slowly tried to make sense as to what had happened. She took a deep breath and looked at her shaking hand, "A… nightmare. But it felt so real..." She muttered to herself. The fist was about to hit her, she was sure of it! And yet… There was no sign of that ever happening.

Staring out through her window, she could swear that the figure rising was also real… Yet there were no clouds, or any sign that _it_ ever rose.

Deciding it was all just a nightmare due to traveling dimensions, she drifted back to sleep.


	6. Story 5: The Gearheads

Nepgear led her bigger self down the Planeptune Tower, and to her lab. She kept talking excitedly to her older self about the robots she built and some weapons as well.

"Though..." Nepgear sighed as they approached her lab's entrance, "I haven't perfected my AIs yet." She swiped a card in front of a reader and the metal wall opened up. The light inside the lab turned on, and Big Nepgear saw the disorganised mess that Nepgear called a lab.

Half-built robots littered a huge table, tools scattered around the room - both floor and table - as well as some constant dripping noise from what Big Nepgear could see as oil. There was a computer screen in the other end, with a smaller screen next to it. But there was something else that caught Big Nepgear's attention.

It was an aqua coloured blade with a golden hilt, and it seemed to emanate share energy. But, the shape and form… she knew it all to well. She took a step back in surprise, "That's..."

"Oh?" Nepgear followed her bigger self's gaze and looked at the blade, "Oh that!"

"What… are you doing with _that_ sword?" Big Nepgear looked at her smaller self with fear, and worry.

"No no no, goodness no." Nepgear waved her hands for her older self to stop worrying, "It's no longer cursed." She said.

"No… longer cursed?" Big Nepgear tilted her head, confused and wondering what she meant.

"Yeah." Nepgear scratched the back of her head, "After Neptune returned from your dimension, she told us the story of her time there and then went to find the sword that existed in this dimension. She smashed it to pieces."

"Smashed..." Big Nepgear shook her head, "If she smashed it, then what's it doing there?"

"That's the Share Blade!" Nepgear said proudly, taking the sword off the wall, "Made it myself with the remaining hilt of the Cursed Sword, and some share crystals from my friend, Uzume." She pointed the hilt at her bigger self, and she held it - examining it.

"A sword made out of share crystals..." Big Nepgear admired it for a few seconds. The idea fascinated her. Reusing Gehaburn - the cursed sword that had caused so much suffering for her and her friends - into a blade that could be used for good. A Holy Sword!

"I can give you the blueprints for it later." Nepgear smiled and took the sword back into the wall, "For now, come come~"

She lead the amused Nepgear further down the lab and to the computer. As they approached it, Nepgear stopped pushing Big Nepgear and approached the smaller computer screen. She quickly wrote in an username and the password. Code, countless lines of code appeared. All with detailed comments and other kinds of bits. Big Nepgear looked amazed at all the code she had written. She started to read through it, slowly figuring out what it was for - An AI.

"Doesn't work." Nepgear said bluntly, "It crashed whenever I ran it." She looked a tiny bit ashamed.

Big Nepgear smiled and patted her, "Well, that's why you asked me to come here for wasn't it?" Nepgear nodded with excitement, "Then let's read through it..." She pressed the run button, a small orb-like robot beside the screen hummed to life… then quickly stopped as the error message appeared on the screen.

"That's what always happens..." Nepgear sighed.

Big Nepgear nodded and started to read through it. She quickly found the problem and fixed it, explaining to Nepgear what had happened and how to resolve it. She added a few bits of her own code to the AI and then tried to run it again, this time successfully compiling and managing to not crash. The orb-like robot besides the screen started to hum, and its blue light flickered to life.

"I-It works!" Nepgear said with excitement, "Goodness, you're a genius Big Me!"

"I… worked with AI for ten years." She admitted sadly.

Nepgear nodded, "Your work paid off. You could use this to improve your Planeptune."

"I could…" Big Nepgear though for a second, glancing at the Share Blade on the wall. Just like Gehaburn could become something used for good… Perhaps her inventions could be of use as well. Using the skills she acquired to create something better for Planeptune!

"Hey Big… Me!" Nepgear waved her hand in front of her face, bringing her back.

"Right right. Sorry." She turned off the robot and the lick flickered off, "Well, the code should work now… Just add the finishing touches yourself."

"I will." Nepgear looked excited, "Next time you see me, I'll be even better!"

"I hope so." Her bigger self smiled and turned to the other table, where different versions of Nepgeardam lied there.

The first one was the cubed one, then it slowly slimmed down and became more like Nepgear… Until it was just a mess.

"Nepgeardam Mark 6" Nepgear sighed at the mess, "Couldn't get it to look like me."

"Oh that's easy." Big Nepgear smiled, "But, I think we should do it together. So you can develop as an engineer and mechanic."

Nepgear nodded, "Right~ goodness this is exciting."

Big Nepgear smiled and started to build with Nepgear. Took a long while, and lots of grime and grease. Their dresses were completely covered in oil by the time Jupiter and Neptune peeked inside.

"Hello hello, Nepgears?" Neptune called inside.

"Time to head home~!" Jupiter added cheerfully.

"Uhh hello~?" Neptune called again. The sound of machines moving and the Nepgears talking continued, seemingly as if they didn't hear her, "Nep Jr.~!"

"Ah!" Both Nepgears turned in the direction of Neptune's voice, "Neptune."

"Hard at work eh?" She asked teasingly, "So hard you don't even hear your big sis."

"Sorry Neptune." Nepgear smiled apologetically, "You know how I get while tinkering."

"Yeah." Big Nepgear scratched her cheek, "Time flies by when you're having fun."

Jupiter nodded, "It feels like just a few minutes since we arrived here."

Neptune laughed and smiled, "Glad you two had fun~" She nodded happily at the robot, then turned away, "I'll go and pick up the others since everything here is in order. See you, Jupiter. Big Nepgear~!"

Big Nepgear and Jupiter nodded and waved as Neptune walked away. They said their goodbyes to Histy and Nepgear, and headed back to their Planeptune together.

* * *

The ocean below Nepgear moved by quickly. The last Nepgeardam she had was able to take her there and back, but just once. At least, if she had calculated the distance correctly. It dipped a few times, and its back sparked a few times, but otherwise it was holding itself together pretty well.

The island slowly started to come into view, and her memories started to surface again. The time she had spent there. Everything she'd done. And the image of Gehaburn.

Yet, instead of feeling fear or grief, she felt her determination rise. She had to find out what had happened to that cursed blade. And do something about it.

The Nepgeardam let her down near where her previous base had been, the warehouse still stood in the same place and it seemed like nothing had changed. She slowly approached it, and started to look around. Her fight with Neptune, memories of it started to appear as she tried to remember.

It took her a large part of the day. She had arrived close to noon, and by the time she found the sword, the Sun was already setting in the horizon.

The cursed blade had embedded itself in a stone. Or at least, what remained of it. Purple shards scattered around the stone, casting an ominous glow around it. She slowly approached the blade's hilt, which sat in the stone. She felt the sensation again, the cursed sword's corrupting aura became stronger as she got closer.

It took her all her willpower to resist running away. Once she had managed to get next to the blade, she put her hands around the handle. Small puffs of mist brushed against her hands slowly, trying to tempt her to fall again, "Not… this time." Nepgear muttered as she pulled the blade out.

And the sky went dark. The shards around the stone had disappeared, and the sky had turned a dark purple. An oppressive feeling pressed against Nepgear. She looked down at her hand, which held the complete Gehaburn. As if it had never been broken in the first place. Her hand trembled in fear at the mistake that she had made… The idea wasn't looking so great for her now.

"Picking up the blade again, huh? Just what I expected." Noire's voice came from behind her. Nepgear turned to face her, but was instead greeted by a mist apparition with Noire's shape instead.

"Nepgear never learns." Uni's mist apparition materialised next to her.

"She's a meanie." Ram's joined in, and so did Rom's.

"Hmpf..." Blanc appeared as well.

"So disappointing." Vert's said at last.

"Hey hey." Neptune's voice behind Nepgear now, "Leave her be."

Everything was happening too fast. Nepgear turned from CPU to CPU, her eyes trembling as the memories of their deaths appeared in her head, fresh as ever. The blood in her hands could never be cleansed, no matter what she did.

"Nep Jr~!" Neptune's apparition called cheerfully, "Join us!"

Nepgear stammered, "W-Wha-?"

"Use the blade. Join us." Neptune said, a smile creeping in the mist apparition's face, "You know you want to. There's nothing left for you here. Come join your dear sister!"

Nepgear took a step back from the mist Neptune and glanced at the sword's purple glow, "Join… you?"

She nodded, "Yep~ We're all waiting for you, Nep Jr. Just use the sword, and you can join us!"

Nepgear hesitated. Join Neptune and her friends? It was that easy? Just use the sword and… end it all. This world had no meaning without them, after all. All her friends were dead.

 _She had killed them._

What was a better end than to join them? It would be so easy to just use the sword and-

No. Those weren't Nepgear's thoughts. She knew that all too well. Gehaburn was whispering in her ear again, trying to turn her. But that wasn't going to happen ever again! Nepgear shook her head and stared at Neptune, "No, Neptune. I won't join you."

"Huh? Why not, Nep Jr.? This world doesn't mean anything to you does it? There's nothing here for you. No one for you to stay."

"Perhaps, in the past, I would've believed that." Nepgear stared at the blade in her hand, "Once, these thoughts would have been all I ever thought of. An escape; a place to be with the ones I lost..."

"So then-"

"However," Nepgear looked directly at the Mist, her eyes blazing of confidence, "You're wrong. This world does hold meaning to me. The new CPUs, my friends, my family… Every single one of them is here for me."

"I'm not!" The Mist Neptune barked angrily.

"No. But Neptune is." She raised Gehaburn into the air, "Even now, my sister is watching over me. She might not be here in person, but she will always… be with me. As long as I remember her, her spirit will be right beside me! Showing me the way!"

"You…!" The mist apparition appeared to growl, the Neptune form slowly contorting.

"Which is why..." She held the blade with both hands, right beside her face in an offensive position, "I, Nepgear, the old CPU Candidate of Planeptune, Jupiter's predecessor and Neptune's younger sister, will no longer be shackled by my past! I will carve my way into the future!" She rushed at the mist, embedding the purple blade into the apparition's form.

"You can't… escape the past...!" It hissed.

"I know." Nepgear held the blade in place, looking down at the floor, "Which is why I didn't run. I accepted it. My past is will allow for a better 'me' to be born."

The mist hissed one last time… and then the world turned back to normal. The mist had vanished, alongside the shards and the purple sky had been replaced by a starry night sky.

Nepgear fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face. She held the hilt of the old cursed sword, now devoid of any colour.

"Thank you, Neptune." Nepgear smiled at the stars above as a soft breeze brushed past her, seemingly caressing her cheek, "I will... make you proud. So please, keep watching over me." And then she broke down. Her tears falling uncontrollably from her eyes, yet... they weren't bitter. Nepgear was letting everything out, every single ounce of courage she had used to face the apparition had quickly turned into her grief... But she knew she couldn't stay there for long, she had to keep waking the path she had laid down.

For that, was Neptune's wish for her future. A future that she herself built.


	7. Story 6: Purple and Red

Neptune led Jupiter towards the kitchen as soon as the other CPUs left with their respective successors. She opened the fridge and offered her successor a pudding and a spoon, "We need to catch up~! How's progress over there?" Neptune asked, after stuffing her face full of pudding.

"Everything's going really well, Neptune." Jupiter smiled warmly, taking small bites of pudding, "Nepgear has been working hard to make amends with the people, and it's working so far! She's made transport so easy, OH! And expanded Planeptune's guild with her tech. There's so much she's done in just a few months!"

Neptune laughed as she started on her second pudding, "That's just like Nep Jr. Don't let her go overboard though, she might just turn Planeptune's tower into a giant mech!" Neptune teased with a smile.

Jupiter laughed quietly at the idea. She took another bite of her pudding, slowly savouring it as she thought of some of the more problematic happenings in Planeptune, slowly working up the courage to speak, "Though, Neptune… There's some problems too."

"There's always problems." Neptune complained with a mouthful, "You can fix 'em up real quick though, Jupiter. You're my successor after all~ What are these problems anyhow?"

"Ah well..." Jupiter scratched the back of her head, "There's been people reporting monsters being more aggressive… as well as some spots that release this bright red mist… Histy called it miasma."

The last one caught Neptune off guard. She had a vague idea of what was causing everything else Jupiter had said since she arrived, but the red miasma? That threw her for a loop, yet at the same time felt like she should know it. Jupiter must've noticed since she tilted her head quizzically. Neptune shook her head, "Oh nothing Jupiter~ I'm sure it's nothing too bad."

"You sure Neptune?" Jupiter looked concerned, "You were quiet for a long time."

"Yep! Could just be some weird monster leaving that red mist behind. I wouldn't worry."

Jupiter didn't look fully convinced, but nodded anyway. She put the spoon down by the sink, and the empty pudding cup on the trash. She smiled at Neptune, "Hey Neptune~ You should show me around your Planeptune." She said, looking out through a window.

"Ooooh. That's a great idea, Jupiter! Come on, let's go." Neptune jumped a bit in enthusiasm and led Jupiter out to the city. As they walked, Jupiter started pointing at different buildings and noting some differences. There was an arcade that she had never seen before; a fancy restaurant she never saw as well as a bookstore. Neptune smiled and laughed at times as she saw how energetic and curious Jupiter was.

From time to time, passersby waved at Neptune and Jupiter with smiles. Young children sometimes approached Neptune to talk to her, then ask about Jupiter. They looked in awe at Jupiter before walking away with a big smile. That made Jupiter feel really happy, and excited. Even the people of this other Planeptune liked her.

Halfway through their walk, she noticed that Neptune was using a phone. She tilted her head, then Neptune put the phone away. Neptune smiled and started to lead Jupiter outside of Planeptune, which confused her, "Hey Neptune… why are we going outside?"

"Oh just some curiosity of mine~" She stopped Jupiter once they reached an open field outside of Planeptune. It looked oddly familiar, "I want to see how much you've improved, my dear successor!" Neptune exclaimed as the stood a few feet away from Jupiter, katana in hand.

"Eh? You want… to duel?" Jupiter looked at Neptune curiously.

"But of course~! Just one round, then we go back and play games." Neptune smiled.

Jupiter chuckled as her rapier materialised. She smiled at Neptune, "Okay Neptune. I'll show you "

Neptune stance changed. She looked at Jupiter, her katana parallel to the ground as she waited for her successor to make her move. She seemed to taunt Jupiter with her smile as she allowed her to make the first move.

As a gentle breeze slowly passed by the field, Jupiter made her move. She rushed at Neptune and slashed with her rapier, trying to get past her katana. Neptune simply smirked and jumped up, avoiding the slash and managing to get behind Jupiter.

Jupiter continued her slash so that she could face Neptune and possibly hit her… only to miss again as Neptune moved back slightly.

"C'mon c'mon, Jupiter. Is that all ya got~? You'll never hit me li-" Before Neptune could finish her sentence, she was hit in the back of her head with a Nep Bull can. The can flew up into the air after colliding with Neptune's head, which managed to make her fall, "Ow!" Neptune complained as the can fell down on her again after flying for a few seconds.

Jupiter hid her laugh, and looked in the direction the can had come from. Standing nearby were two girls she recognised - IF and Compa.

"What was that about not being able to hit you, Nep?" IF teased with another can of Nep Bull in her hand.

"Iffyyyyy..." Neptune complained as she rubbed her head where the can hit her, "That was mean..."

"Should've been more wary of your surroundings, Nep." IF smiled as she walked closer, "So, this is who you wanted us to meet?"

Neptune slowly stood up and picked the Nep Bull can - still rubbing her head, "Yep. This is Jupiter~ My successor fr-"

"Successor?" IF interrupted, "Did you give up being a CPU already?" She crossed her arms.

"Nep-Nep is retiring?" Compa looked a bit sad about that, "Awww Nep-Nep why didn't you tell us."

"Hold on one second darnit!" Neptune exclaimed, "I'm not retiring. Jupiter here is from another dimension."

Neptune gestured at Jupiter, who nodded enthusiastically, "Yep. I'm the CPU for another dimension's Planeptune - Jupiter."

"Oh so she's from that dimension you were telling us about the other day, Nep?" Neptune nodded.

Compa smiled, "It's nice to meet you, um… Jup-Jup."

Jupiter laughed a bit, "Ehe… My Compa calls me that as well. Nice to meet you." She smiled warmly.

Neptune smiled, then glanced over at where the Sun was. It was slowly making its way down the sky, signaling the end of their successor's visit. Neptune let out a disappointed sigh then looked over at Jupiter, "Hey Jupiter. The day's almost over… So let us quickly run back to the Basilicom to enjoy the last few hours playing games!"

Jupiter nodded, "Okay Neptune~! Lead!" She pointed with her hand, and followed as Neptune ran back to the Basilicom. IF sighed, "They're too alike. Clearly Nep's successor."

Compa laughed, "Yep~ But that's what makes Nep-Nep fun."

"Perhaps you're right, Compa." IF smiled, "Perhaps you're right." She slowly started to follow the pair of CPUs, with Compa following not far behind.

As Neptune planned, they spent the last few hours of the visit playing games and eating pudding and having an overall great time. Once their time came to a close, Neptune went around looking for the other CPUs and Big Nepgear. They said their goodbyes and went through the portal back home - promising to visit another time.

As the portal closed, a certain red-haired girl walked inside the Basilicom, yawning, "Uzume!" Neptune exclaimed, "Where had you been?"

"Oh? I was doing some work. Since ya had to go ahead and take the day off and all." Uzume replied, yawning again.

"Oh..." Neptune scratched her cheek. Perhaps she should've thought about Uzume a bit more to introduce her to the other CPUs… but if her thinking was right, then it wouldn't matter if she did or not.

After all, Neptune was sure they'd meet her eventually…

* * *

Jupiter was kneeling and holding herself with her sword. The red uneven rocky terrain making it difficult to stand. Her arms and legs were full of injuries, and her body suit tattered. She knew she was in a fight… but she couldn't see with whom. Black fog surrounded her and reduced her vision. A beast's laughter echoed from the fog, "Weak! Weak and pathetic… Did you really expect to beat me with your puny power?"

Jupiter was breathing heavily. She didn't recognise the voice, but it sounded so familiar to her - almost as if she heard it before.

She looked ahead again, trying to see if she could find the beast from within the fog. It was at that moment that a purple orb of energy flew out of the mist and towards her - but just as it was about to connect - Nepgear jumped from behind Jupiter and slashed it away, "Come on, Jupiter! We can't give up! We have to defeat the De-"

Before Nepgear could finish her sentence, the world appeared to twist until she was somewhere else. Looking around, she recognised it as the top floor of the Basilicom, a place Histy enjoyed visiting during the night and looking out at the city… Except this time, there was a giant rift in the sky, ominously looming over Gamindustri.

Then she was suddenly falling. Falling down a hole devoid of colour, and screaming. The sound of wind rushing past her was almost unbearable. Then she hit the end, and the hole closed above her, "Wait, let me out!" Jupiter managed to shout, banging where the hole used to be.

She stopped once she heard laughter. Cold, evil laughter, " **You're not getting out soon. Some rest will do you fine, Jupiter. Sweet dreams.** "

It was then that wherever she was started to become filled with a purple mist. As it touched her, she started to feel light-headed and really tired. She fought back the urge to collapse asleep… but her drowsiness won in the end and she fell asleep.

* * *

Jupiter woke with a start. Pushing her blankets away from her and holding her head. Sweat trailing down her head, and her breathing heavy. She held one hand close to her chest, slowly calming down.

"That… was a dream right… Just a dream..." She told herself, trying to relax as the memory of her nightmare slowly faded away until she could no longer recall what had happened in it.

"It… was a nightmare…" Jupiter told herself, lying down on her bed again, "Just a dream..." She closed her eyes, in an attempt to sleep again.

* * *

 _Deep within the Snow covered forest._

 _In the sealed temple of Mirai_

 _The red sword awaits_

Those were the words a cloaked figure keep repeating as it made its way through a forest in Lowee. Brushing aside the snow that fell during the night, and trying to keep warm during the cold night, it kept looking at a paper that it held to as if its life depended on it. Weird symbols inscribed in it.

The figure pushed aside some tree branches, and kept moving forwards until it found what it was looking for. It stared at the stone temple in awe, the same symbols carved into the stone and glowing a faint blue.

"I found it." The figure muttered in a low gentle voice, "I finally found it..." The figure started to laugh, "Mark my words, world, for I, Monolith, have finally found the unfindable!"


End file.
